The present invention relates to a teaching system and more particularly to a teaching system through which a student at a remote location receives training and instruction by means of a computer. The system is applicable to a wide variety of instructional environments including public, private and home school education, as well as professional and industrial fields where continuing or periodic instruction is required.
Many students today have encountered situations that have resulted in their having to leave public schools. Current statistics indicate that about 16% of the high school population do not complete high school. Students leave the traditional public schools for many reasons, including medical problems, truancy, drop out due to expulsion, pregnancy, family crisis or behavioral problems. The present invention provides a teaching or instructional system which provides these students, sometimes termed xe2x80x9cat riskxe2x80x9d students, the opportunity to obtain an accredited high school diploma. The invention also provides the school district the capability to enroll those students so as to obtain xe2x80x9cseat timexe2x80x9d credit.
The present invention enables the public schools to provide the non-traditional student with quality education and a diploma upon graduation without incurring the costs associated with traditional education. Further the system allows the school district to obtain and qualify for federal and other funding as the remote learning student is considered as being in xe2x80x9cattendance.xe2x80x9d As a result, the school district receives credit as the remote student is counted as a regular class-attending student.
There are various learning systems that can be found in the prior art that enable a student at a remote location to receive instruction. The term xe2x80x9cremotexe2x80x9d refers to situations in which the student and teacher are at different locations. Some of the earlier systems simply used two-way telephone or radio communication between a teacher in a classroom and the remote student. These types of systems were primarily used in connection with students who had some type of medical disability and could not attend classes. More recently, various computer and assisted instructional delivery systems and methods have been developed. These systems may use an interactive monitor positioned at the student""s location. Each interactive monitor displays instructional information in visual form. A network communications system communicates the instructional information as inputted and selectively displays the instructional information simultaneously onto the various student monitors. Patents describing systems of this general type include U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,176,520 and 5,437,555.
Systems of the type described above, which are representative of the prior art, do provide the remotely located student the opportunity to receive instruction, are subject to a number of short comings. One disadvantage is that many of these systems require the student to participate at a particular time, generally the time the class is being offered. This is often not convenient for students with medical problems or students who, because of family and personal problems, find it necessary to work or be away at times during the day and therefore cannot participate. Another problem is that while teaching systems of this type may impart the necessary information to the student and allow the student to be tested and graded and ultimately receive a diploma, the school districts do not receive xe2x80x9cat seatxe2x80x9d credit for such students. Accordingly, the school district is not entitled to funding from federal and other programs.
It is apparent there exists a need for an improved instructional system which student can access at convenient times and will benefit the school district by providing xe2x80x9cat seatxe2x80x9d credit for funding purposes.
It is a broad object of the invention to provide a computer-based instructional system which includes a continual or random intermittent student recognition and identification system.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a teaching system which enables schools to provide non-traditional students with quality education and a diploma upon graduation without incurring the costs associated with traditional education. The invention further allows the school district to obtain xe2x80x9cat seatxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cseat timexe2x80x9d credit for such student. The terms xe2x80x9cat seatxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cseat timexe2x80x9d mean periods when the student is present during an instructional period.
The present instructional system provides distance learning by means of a computer. Each enrolled student is supplied with Internet connectivity with the necessary computer equipment including a multi-media computer and video conferencing system for monitoring and communicating with the instructional program. Access to a computer system allows even the most economically disadvantaged students to participate. Instructional periods may be on a scheduled basis or on demand basis when the student""s schedule allows the student to participate. Scheduled classes may be at a set time and may be taught in real time by an instructor or may be contained on a CD ROM or other software with a teacher available at the conclusion of the instructional period for questions and answers. The xe2x80x9con demandxe2x80x9d classes may be accessed any time by students and live teachers are available for questions and answers at prescheduled times.
The student logs on or accesses the system by first providing precise identification such as a biometric scan. The presence of the student may be randomly or continually confirmed during the instructional period by biometrics, a web camera or by other means such as requiring the student to place his or her finger on a fingerprint pad or by periodically requiring a confirming action by the student.